A memorial to Heather Heyer, a victim of racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photo: Bob Mical

Opinion

Harold Monteau: Donald Trump depends on White supremacists to stay in office

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

President Donald Trump was slow to condemn White supremacists for racial violence in Virginia and he was back at with a combative press conference in which he blamed the deadly incident on "both sides." Harold Monteau, a citizen of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, argues that Trump's performance fits into the Republican Party's strategy of promoting "fear and exclusion" in America:

Be reminded, Donald Trump was a Democrat and supported the Democratic party and was a contributor to many of the Democratic elite, some of whom he counts as friends (Clintons, Kerry, Schumer, Reid, etc.). He contributed to both parties, but has for decades recognized that his best chances, as he fantasized about a run at national politics, was the GOP and its strategy and subliminal message of fear for white voters of being displaced or replaced by others. He merely took the rhetoric of fear up a notch, and in sometimes plainer language, appealed to the fears of white Americans, and reinforced the subliminal message of white superiority and white nationalism in “making America Great Again.”
Did Trump’s rhetoric contribute to a political climate that encouraged the most base of the far right base, white supremacists and white nationalists, to begin beating, maiming and killing the others? Most certainly, it did. That is affirmed by some of those in the so-called alt-right, either individually or as a group. There have been many such activities since the Trump campaign and his inauguration.
Trump, looking ahead to 2020, took days to condemn the alt-right groups for inciting violence and death. But he didn’t say a word about the white nationalist movement. That is because it is present in his White House on a daily basis and because he must depend on the far right for re-election. They are useful in reinforcing the basic message of fear of a non-white takeover of power in the United States. They are also useful in that their high visibility in the GOP ranks is intimidating members of the GOP who have benefited from the use of this fear as a political strategy and are afraid of losing the election success they have realized from it. He uses it to put fear into such people as Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan as well as long-time republican centrists, such as John McCain.

Read More on the Story:
Harold Monteau: US Reaps Fear and Hatred GOP Sowed (Indian Country Media Network August 15, 2017)